PreciseOnco research consortium awarded EUR 14.9 million IHI grant to drive breakthroughs in precision cancer treatment
February 3, 2026
- Co-funded by the EU's Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), the Philips-coordinated research consortium will combine advanced medical imaging, robotic guidance technologies, and AI to standardize and enhance the precision of minimally invasive cancer treatments
- Five-year research program with total budget of EUR 23.9 million includes five clinical studies to validate the technical solutions, with the aim of setting a new benchmark for precision, safety, and efficiency in minimally invasive cancer care
Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG, AEX: PHIA)), a global leader in health technology, today announced that the PreciseOnco consortium, coordinated by Philips, has been awarded funding from the EU's Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) to advance precision cancer treatment through the integration of advanced medical imaging, robotic assistance, and minimally invasive therapies. The EUR 14.9 million public funding will be complemented by EUR 9 million in in-kind contributions and additional resources from industry partners, supporting a five-year research and innovation program that also includes five clinical studies.
"Smart imaging and robotic precision are opening new possibilities for minimally invasive cancer treatment," said Bert van Meurs, Chief Business Leader for Image Guided Therapy at Royal Philips. "By combining spectral imaging, AI-powered software and robotic guidance, we're developing new solutions to help physicians treat cancer with greater precision, confidence and speed. This leads to better outcomes for patients and a more efficient use of hospital resources. The PreciseOnco partnership brings together technology, clinical expertise and patient perspectives to help improve the way cancer care is delivered."
Innovation through public-private partnership
The PreciseOnco public-private partnership unites experts from industry, research organizations, medical societies and leading European hospitals:
- Industry partners: Philips, Quantum Surgical, and IGEA
- Research organization: European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR)
- Medical society: Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE)
- Academic partners: University Hospital Cologne (Uniklinik Koeln) in Germany, University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) and Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands, and two major university hospital networks in France: Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP; Hôpital Henri-Mondor) and Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL)
By uniting Europe's leading clinical expertise and industry innovation, PreciseOnco aims to set a new benchmark for precision, safety, and efficiency in minimally invasive cancer care.
The rising cancer burden and precision treatment needs
Cancer remains a leading health challenge, with approximately 2.7 million new diagnoses in Europe each year [1] with projections suggesting over 35 million new cancer cases globally by 2050, representing a 77% increase from 2022 [2]. In response to this growing challenge, interventional oncology has emerged as a rapidly evolving discipline that integrates medical imaging, oncology, and minimally invasive treatment approaches [3]. Such treatments – including targeted ablation, radioembolization, and electrochemotherapy – offer advantages over traditional surgery, such as shorter recovery times and fewer side effects; however, their effectiveness strongly depends on the performance of medical imaging and the precision with which physicians can guide instruments to tumors.
Bringing advanced technology into the interventional room
The PreciseOnco consortium aims to develop a suite of integrated technologies designed to take the next leap in precision cancer care. Central to the research and innovation program is spectral imaging, an advanced form of CT and cone-beam CT that captures significantly richer information about tissue composition than conventional imaging, enabling more confident differentiation between tumors, vasculature, and healthy tissue. By analyzing X-rays at different energy levels, spectral imaging enables physicians with greater clarity to see exactly what tissues they are treating.
To complement this advanced imaging technology, PreciseOnco will integrate robotic guidance systems that use real-time imaging data to guide interventional instruments (one or multiple needles) with sub-millimeter precision. The consortium will also look to advance electrochemotherapy, a minimally invasive technique that combines locally administered electrical pulses with chemotherapy to selectively treat cancer tissue, with the aim of maximizing tumor control while preserving surrounding healthy tissue.
Crucially, all these technologies will be powered by AI algorithms designed to enhance image quality, reduce radiation dose, streamline advanced visualization software and provide real-time intra-procedural feedback on treatment success. This would allow physicians to confirm that tumors have been fully treated before the patient leaves the operating room.
Clinical studies
The project is structured into multiple work packages covering spectral imaging technology development, AI based image processing, robotic guidance integration, multi-center clinical validation, and health economic assessment. PreciseOnco will conduct five clinical studies spanning multiple cancer types and interventional workflows, ensuring robust validation in real world clinical settings:
- VISTA (Virtual Spectral Imaging for Superior Thermal Ablation Guidance): Evaluating spectral imaging to improve liver, kidney ablation procedures and liver radioembolization.
- SPOT ON (Spectral angiography-computed tomography to Optimize percutaneous Tumor ablation): Assessing spectral CT for better tumor targeting and treatment planning.
- HORA EST HCC 2: Combining thermal ablation with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in a single session for improved hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.
- SPECTRA-L (Spectral Performance Evaluation of a CT-Equipped Therapeutic Radiology Angio Suite in Liver): Testing spectral imaging for transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) procedures.
- LASER (Locoregional therApies Spectral Evaluation of Responses): Developing imaging biomarkers to predict treatment success across multiple cancer types and interventional techniques.
Together, these studies will generate evidence to support the adoption of spectral imaging and robotic guidance across European cancer centers, extending access to advanced minimally invasive treatments to a larger patient population.
Philips and innovation public-private partnerships
Public-private partnerships play a vital role in advancing healthcare innovation. With over 40 years of experience in shaping and leading such partnerships, Philips sees them as a powerful complement to its global R&D programs, helping build sustainable ecosystems that foster innovation. Philips' broad imaging, image-guided therapy, and healthcare informatics portfolio helps clinicians visualize, assess, guide treatment, and confirm outcomes – supporting more precise and personalized care. With innovations like Verida detector-based spectral CT fully powered by AI and Azurion image-guided therapy system, Philips continues to push the boundaries of imaging technology, advanced visualization and minimally invasive therapy worldwide.
The PreciseOnco project website will be available soon at www.preciseonco.eu.
The CORDIS project page for PreciseOnco can be accessed here. The IHI factsheet for PreciseOnco can be found here.
References
[1] European Cancer Information System (ECIS) - jrc_CancerEstimates2022_factsheet.pdf.
[2] World Health Organization (WHO) - Global cancer burden growing, amidst mounting need for services.
[3] Global Interventional Oncology Market report - Interventional Oncology Market Size and Growth Analysis Report.
This project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under grant agreement No. 101252582. The JU receives support from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program and life science industries represented by COCIR, EFPIA, EuropaBio, MedTech Europe and Vaccines Europe. PreciseOnco is funded by the European Union, private members, and those contributing partners of the IHI JU. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the aforementioned parties. Neither of the aforementioned parties can be held responsible for them.
For further information, please contact:
Joost Maltha
Philips Global External Relations
Tel.: +31 610 558 116
E-mail: [email protected]
Steve Klink
Philips Medical and Scientific Communications
Tel.: +31 610 888 824
E-mail: [email protected]
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG, AEX: PHIA)) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips' patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, image-guided therapy, monitoring and enterprise informatics, as well as in personal health. Philips generated 2024 sales of EUR 18 billion and employs approximately 67,800 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.
Attachments
- Interventional oncology procedure on Philips Azurion
- Members of the PreciseOnco consortium team
- PreciseOnco research consortium logo
